Your Thoughts on Linda Vaughn
April 4th, 2011, 08:14 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Colts Neck, NJ
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Your Thoughts on Linda Vaughn
So, I didn't know who she was.......when she was mentioned on another thread. Now I know, but I would like to know what others think of her, what they know of her, how if at all they find a connection to her.
Do u find her sexy? Timeless? Old fashioned? Whatever?
Do u find her sexy? Timeless? Old fashioned? Whatever?
April 4th, 2011, 08:27 PM
#2
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Windsor, Ontario
Posts: 901
Ok... She's still alive and I don't want to say something that I'll regret... So... here goes... She's a well endowed blonde, who was in the right place at the right time.
With that said... Hi Linda... Hope to meet you soon.
Jaybird
With that said... Hi Linda... Hope to meet you soon.
Jaybird
Last edited by Jaybird; April 4th, 2011 at 08:54 PM.
April 4th, 2011, 08:44 PM
#3
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta
Posts: 2,623
Having the pleasure to actually meet, my personal opinion of her was that she is a very classy lady that is down to earth and will (unlike some celebrities) actually look you in the eye while talking to you. Although she has aged on the outside, her attitude and personality are just as beautiful as they always were.
April 4th, 2011, 09:46 PM
#4
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Location: USA
Posts: 2,200
She was a VERY well endowed blonde model that had an incredibly good personality. She was hired on as a model / sex symbol for Hurst. Obviously with rare assets like that, on a pretty blonde in the 60's- 80's, she had it goin on. Men will trip over their own feet to entertain you, and she had the bubbly personality to flow with it.
She's in her 60's today, so her legacy remains as a positive influence as the first lady of auto racing decades ago.
But I think of her as a nice grandma now. Not a sex symbol. She's older then my mother, and I'm 37.
She's in her 60's today, so her legacy remains as a positive influence as the first lady of auto racing decades ago.
But I think of her as a nice grandma now. Not a sex symbol. She's older then my mother, and I'm 37.
Last edited by Aceshigh; April 4th, 2011 at 10:06 PM.
April 4th, 2011, 10:02 PM
#5
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Location: Windsor, Ontario
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Here's a little bit of info on Linda Vaughn...
Linda Vaughn. Miss Hurst Golden Shifter. The First Lady of Drag Racing. Trophy queen at just about every type of automotive competition including NASCAR, Indy, Formula One, etc. Linda was the sweetheart of many a race fan, from the mid-60's to the early 1980's when she relinquished her titled as Miss Hurst Golden Shifter.
Linda began her career, strangely enough, as a dental technician, a part-time job she obtained while in high school. After graduating high school she began working full time as a dental technician. She soon got tired of looking into other people's mouths and decided to enter a beauty contest and to her surprise, won. Soon afterwards, in 1961, she entered another contest, this one put on by Atlanta Raceway and won that title too.
Along with her new title of Miss Atlanta Raceway (which lasted one year), Linda's job was to visit various race tracks in the south such as Charlotte, Darlington and Daytona in the pace car representing Atlanta Raceway, displaying her anatomical charms amongst her other duties as race queen.
After her reign as Miss Atlanta Raceway was up, Linda entered another beauty contest, this time sponsored by Pure Oil Company. She won that title as well, and assumed the role of Miss Pure Firebird a position she retained for 3 1/2 years 'til Pure Oil merged with Union Oil Company.
That merger signalled the end of her career as Miss Firebird and Linda was suddenly out of a job. She thought her career as race queen was over. All was not lost, though. Linda being the automotive oriented gal that she is, opened up an issue of Hot Rod Magazine and noticed an ad from Hurst who were looking for a new Miss Hurst Golden Shifter.
Linda decided to enter and won the preliminary at Atlanta, then the title overall amongst 200 other entries. Thus began Linda's long career as Miss Hurst and her association with Hurst Industries.
Linda quickly became a prominent figure [pun intended] in the drag racing world and to a lesser extent in other forms of automotive competition.
In the mid-60's, she along with Don Garlits and Richard Petty, toured military bases in Vietnam, giving our boys moral support and briefly taking their minds off the hell of war.
Towards the late 1960's, Linda's services became in such demand that Hurst had to hire additional blonde beauties - dubbed the Hurstettes, to fill in for Linda at various racing events across the USA
At more prestigious events, Linda alongside the other two or three Hurstettes, made their appearance. Yes, a sight for sore eyes indeed!
In addition to her duties as Miss Hurst, in the mid-1970's Linda also was the spokes model for Gratiot Auto Supply appearing in their ads featured in the many car magazines of the day. She also starred in Gratiot's television commercials, which aired in the Detroit area
Linda's other TV appearances include a couple of Hollywood films namely, Gumball Rally[1976] and Stroker Ace[1983], starring Burt Reynolds. Later, she was the host of The Exciting World of Speed and Beauty, which aired on ESPN in the 1990's.
Not all of Linda's time at the races was spent as a trophy queen but as a competitor, as she got
behind the wheel and competed (albeit briefly) in sports car competition after receiving her competition drivers license from the SCCA after successfully completing the driving course offered at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. After semi-retiring from the automotive scene during the years of 1983-87, Linda returned to her first love. She teamed up with Mr. Gasket Performance Group, a conglomerate of automotive companies, who now owned Hurst Industries, and was promoted to Vice President, Public Relations.
Today, Linda still makes appearances at many car shows and automotive races, no longer as race queen but as a guest of honor, signing autographs and greeting legions of her fans, many dating back to the 1960's.
In recent history, Linda was elected to the Drag Racing Hall of Fame and was chosen the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer's (SEMA) Person of the Year.
Presently, Linda is associated with Prolong Super Lubricants in the capacity as consultant and spokesperson.
Linda Vaughn. Miss Hurst Golden Shifter. The First Lady of Drag Racing. Trophy queen at just about every type of automotive competition including NASCAR, Indy, Formula One, etc. Linda was the sweetheart of many a race fan, from the mid-60's to the early 1980's when she relinquished her titled as Miss Hurst Golden Shifter.
Linda began her career, strangely enough, as a dental technician, a part-time job she obtained while in high school. After graduating high school she began working full time as a dental technician. She soon got tired of looking into other people's mouths and decided to enter a beauty contest and to her surprise, won. Soon afterwards, in 1961, she entered another contest, this one put on by Atlanta Raceway and won that title too.
Along with her new title of Miss Atlanta Raceway (which lasted one year), Linda's job was to visit various race tracks in the south such as Charlotte, Darlington and Daytona in the pace car representing Atlanta Raceway, displaying her anatomical charms amongst her other duties as race queen.
After her reign as Miss Atlanta Raceway was up, Linda entered another beauty contest, this time sponsored by Pure Oil Company. She won that title as well, and assumed the role of Miss Pure Firebird a position she retained for 3 1/2 years 'til Pure Oil merged with Union Oil Company.
That merger signalled the end of her career as Miss Firebird and Linda was suddenly out of a job. She thought her career as race queen was over. All was not lost, though. Linda being the automotive oriented gal that she is, opened up an issue of Hot Rod Magazine and noticed an ad from Hurst who were looking for a new Miss Hurst Golden Shifter.
Linda decided to enter and won the preliminary at Atlanta, then the title overall amongst 200 other entries. Thus began Linda's long career as Miss Hurst and her association with Hurst Industries.
Linda quickly became a prominent figure [pun intended] in the drag racing world and to a lesser extent in other forms of automotive competition.
In the mid-60's, she along with Don Garlits and Richard Petty, toured military bases in Vietnam, giving our boys moral support and briefly taking their minds off the hell of war.
Towards the late 1960's, Linda's services became in such demand that Hurst had to hire additional blonde beauties - dubbed the Hurstettes, to fill in for Linda at various racing events across the USA
At more prestigious events, Linda alongside the other two or three Hurstettes, made their appearance. Yes, a sight for sore eyes indeed!
In addition to her duties as Miss Hurst, in the mid-1970's Linda also was the spokes model for Gratiot Auto Supply appearing in their ads featured in the many car magazines of the day. She also starred in Gratiot's television commercials, which aired in the Detroit area
Linda's other TV appearances include a couple of Hollywood films namely, Gumball Rally[1976] and Stroker Ace[1983], starring Burt Reynolds. Later, she was the host of The Exciting World of Speed and Beauty, which aired on ESPN in the 1990's.
Not all of Linda's time at the races was spent as a trophy queen but as a competitor, as she got
behind the wheel and competed (albeit briefly) in sports car competition after receiving her competition drivers license from the SCCA after successfully completing the driving course offered at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. After semi-retiring from the automotive scene during the years of 1983-87, Linda returned to her first love. She teamed up with Mr. Gasket Performance Group, a conglomerate of automotive companies, who now owned Hurst Industries, and was promoted to Vice President, Public Relations.
Today, Linda still makes appearances at many car shows and automotive races, no longer as race queen but as a guest of honor, signing autographs and greeting legions of her fans, many dating back to the 1960's.
In recent history, Linda was elected to the Drag Racing Hall of Fame and was chosen the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer's (SEMA) Person of the Year.
Presently, Linda is associated with Prolong Super Lubricants in the capacity as consultant and spokesperson.
April 5th, 2011, 04:03 AM
#6
Oldsdruid
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southside Vajenya
Posts: 10,295
She's a class act. As Ken said, as nice, personable and down to earth as anyone you'll ever meet, and she does love her fan base.
She's also intelligent and can converse at length about a lot of things.
She's also intelligent and can converse at length about a lot of things.
April 5th, 2011, 06:00 AM
#7
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Posts: 17,617
Unfrotunately, Because she is such a class act, little is known about her personal life. [To me any way]
April 5th, 2011, 07:07 AM
#8
Got wood? I do! (an '89)
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Southeast Michigan
Posts: 310
Seriously, though, I've ONLY known her since I started in the car-writing racket--16+ years ago--and still feel she's been a better spokesperson than any of the "bims" that populate car show booths nowadays.
[I'll take whip-smart, funny and KNOWLEDGEABLE over dental-floss-outfitted bubbleheads any day. Not that I don't appreciate the latter, but when you're actually having to get real information with which to write news stories, I do have to have a more thorough conversation than just shouting "Show me your t__ts!"]
And as for that last comment, I have always found it interesting that "car guys"--even the ones that ogled her in the wayback--treat her more like a sister/aunt/whatever than a sex symbol. Don't believe me? Just talk some s__t about her here or anywhere else and you'll get your butt electronically kicked...
April 5th, 2011, 05:06 PM
#9
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Chi-town
Posts: 4,511
holy cow
, I never saw that early picture of her, that must be from the early 60s - very pretty. I have seen here a few times always seemed very nice and professional - like most said here I see her as the forever rep of Hurst and our Oldsmobiles
, I never saw that early picture of her, that must be from the early 60s - very pretty. I have seen here a few times always seemed very nice and professional - like most said here I see her as the forever rep of Hurst and our Oldsmobiles
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